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Monday, 12 November 2012

Cycling from Boughthayes to Morrisons

We do most of our food shopping at Morrisons. It's a little over 1.5km away so it's short enough to walk, but just a little bit far to carry shopping bags. We either use panniers on our bicycles or a trailer if we take the kids. The route to Morrisons from Monksmead is lovely - the short sections on road are very quiet.

Getting from Boughthayes to Monksmead requires crossing a steep section of the A390 with cars parked along one side of it. There is a train track that once crossed the A390 near the start of our route but the bridge deck has been removed. Reinstating the bridge deck to join the cycle track from the town centre to the quiet roads around Monksmead would be marvellous for this part of Tavistock.

The route itself starts just above the Catholic Church where Greensway Road leaves the A390 Callington Road. Cycle uphill on Greensway Road to Daleswood Road on the left. Steeply down to the end of the road: the right hand side footpath continues in a narrow gap between the bank on the right and garages on the left. Less than ten metres through the gap you emerge on one of Monksmead's side roads. Google Maps shows a route on the left to Trinity Way here, but it's wrong (I have notified them and they say they will fix it).

Follow the road curving left to emerge on Monksmead. Turn left, passing the playground on your right and turn quickly left again after 30 metres into Trinity Way. At the foot of Trinity Way, a broad path leads quickly to a bridge over the canal. Just over the bridge are 'Route 27' signs.

Pass the college and playing fields on your left hand side. After a few hundred metres, you have to cross the road to Tavistock's recycling centre. Another 200 metres past the football club pitches leads you to a bridge over the River Tavy to emerge on Brook Lane behind Cornwall Farmers.

Dog-leg right and left over Brook Lane and pass the entrance to Cornwall Farmers on your left. Ride straight to the end of the road where you'll see the right-hand footpath continuing up a ramp into the car park at Morrisons.

It's a pleasant ride of a little over 1.5km. You can see from the video that it's only 8 minutes with a trailer with 40kg of children in it! Some of the posts on the journey don't leave much room for a 2-seat trailer, but our 'Adventure At3' fits through easily enough.